Type-writing machine.



I. J. TANNBR & E. I'. GRIFFIN.-

TYPB WRITING MACHINE.

- APPLIoA'MoN FILED JAN. 31, 1907.

929,896. l Patented Aug. 3, 1909.

4 slums-SHEET 1.

F. J. TANNER E. P. GRIFFIN'.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED unal, 1907.

` 999,996. Patented Aug.3,1909.

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F. J. TANNER a E. I. GRIFFIN.

` TYPE WRITING MACHINE. -APPLIGATION FILED JAN. a1, 1907.

929,896. Patented Aug. s, 1909.

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P. LTANNBR & E. F. GRIFFIN.

Patented Aug. 3, 1909.

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STATES AZEENT FRANK J. TANNER AND EDWIN I?. GRIFFIN, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA. ASSIGNORS IO INTERNATIONAL TEXT EOOI( COMPANY, OF SCRAN'ION, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORIORA- TION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

TYE -WRITING J.. CHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 3, 19C9.

To all whom it may concern:

Ile it known that we, FRANK J. Tannen and lnwiN l?. GRIFFIN, citizens of the TUnited States, and residents of Scranton, Lachawanna county. State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in rllype-"lfr'vriting Iliaohines, of which tl o following is a specification.

The present invention relates more particularly to improvements in means for shifting` the platen or its equivalent to print either upper or lower case letters in a typewriting machine of the class having` two or more types on each type bar.

According to the invention, as illustrated, the platen may be et for normally printing upper case type. or lower case type and when set for printingl either case it may be temporarily set for printing the other case by means of a l-ey and will be automatically returned when the ley is released.

rlhe invention will be described in connection the accompanying drawing, in w iich,

Figure l is a rear elevation partly in section, of a typewriting machine, only so much of the mechanism being shown as is necessary to illustrate the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a machine illustratng the invention; 3 is a section about on the line of Fig. l showing' the platen in its lower position; is a section similar to Fig. 5, but showing the platen in its uppermost position; Ifig. 5 is a section on the line of l showing` the platen temporarily in its lower position; Figs. 6 and 7 are plan and side views of the device for locking the platen to the carriage and of the platen bearing; Fig. 8 is an end view of the praten bearing detached; 9 is a sectional view showing the spring far holding the platen yieldingly in either position.

Referring to the drawing, l indicates the frame of the machine, Q the carriage and 3 the platen. rhe carriage is mounted to reciprocate on suitable bearings el on the machine frame, only one of the bearings being shown in the drawing. 'IhY platen 3 is provided as usual with a shaft 5. The ends of the platen shaft are mounted in bearings G which are connected to slides 7 adapted to slide vertically in guides S on the end bars of the carriage frame 2. rlie bearings G eX- lthe carriage frame and the upper ends of these openings are each closed by a slide or 1Keeper IO which is secured to the carriage frame by a screw passing through a slot ll and by a lip l2 which enters a notch in the carriage frame. rIhe keeper preferably has a round notch in its under surface which receives and limits the upward movement of the platen shaft.

The means for shifting the platen upward to print upper case. letters comprises a pair of toggle levers 13, le, which are pivotally connected at their adjacent ends. The lever lei is also pivoted to the carrizugex frame at l5 and it is provided with a circular notch or depression to receive the bearing of the platen shaft. The rear end of the lever 13 is connected with a rod i6 which is movable forward and backward in slots 1T in the carriage frame. The rod 16 together with the parts enumerated above are movable with the carriage as it travels in its bearings t. r-Ehe rod 16 passes through an eye or tube 1S in the upper end of an arm I9 carried by a rock shaft 20, the arrangement being such that the rod 1G is free to reciprocate in the eye of the arm I9, but is shifted forward and backward as the shaft 20 is rocked.

rthe shatt 2O has two additional arms 2l, 22, which may be integral. with the arm 19, as shown in the drawing. The arms QI, 22, extend forward and rearward from the shaft and form a track for roller 23 carried on the end of a plunger Q4, which slides in a socket in an arm Q5 of a rock shaft 2. rlhe plunger is normally pressed upward and against the arms 21, 22, by a spring 2 The shafts 20 and Q6 are mounted in suitable bearings in the frame l of the machine. rIhe spring 27 is of sui'licient strength to rock the shaft 20 when its pressure is exerted against one or other of the arms 2l., 29,. Thus, as shown in Fig. 3, the arm Qi is held in its uppermost position by the spring 27, thus holding the platen in its lowermost position. In Fig. et the arm 22 is held in its uppermost position and the platen is in its uppermost position. Then the platen is in the lower position, shown in Fig.' 3, it may be shifted to upper position by compressing the spring 2T without shifting' the (rm 25 and when it is in the upper position, shown in 1l, it may be temporarily depressed tend through openings 9 in the end bars of l to print lower case type by compressing the spring Q4 Without shifting Vthe arm 25, as vvill be presently explainedi On the shaft Q6 isrigidly mounted a transverse plat-e 28 having` a curved slot 29 eX- tending` across from "front to rear beneath the s aft. it link which is pivotally conected at its loiver end to key lever 3l has its upper end in engagement with the slot 29 and free to move from end to end thereof. rllhe key lever 3l is normally held in its prior tothe key lever 3l being pressed down to throvv the arm 253 to the rear. s the key lever is returned by its spring to normal position, (the linkt) encounters the upper ll of the slot 29 and is. cainmed over into posit1on shown in full lines in Flg. Ll, :in

which position it is adapted to rock the yshaft 2e in the reverse direction.

After the shaft 9.6 is rocked in thereverse direction, the link 30 will again be .cannned to the rear, asl shown in lt1 ig. The platen may be ythus moved to.l upper or lower case position c successivel-yby a single key.

rthe means for effecting a temporary shift of the platen are as follows: The shaft hasone or more substantially vertical openings through Vwhich rods may reciprocate. rlhere are preferably twoof these rods and the shaft is provided with transy verse tules 3J which form guides for the-rods.

rEhe loiver ends of the rods 2li-t are provided with hooks or loo is which engage ivith arcshaped slots 36 in key levers rlne upper .ends of the rods oil are provided vsith hooks or loops which engage with arc-shaped slots in plates Si) mounted transversely on the .shaft The; ends of the rods 34C move substantially from end to end of the slots v 3G andBS as the shaft 2G is rocked by the lever 3l. lhc rods rl-l therei'fore always aline with the arm 25 of the shaft 2G. lllhen one of the key levers 3l is depressed its connected rod 34 pulls dovvn one end or arm of the plate 3f.) and .rocks the shaft 20, moving the platen from upi r to lower case, or from lower to upper case against the tension of the spring 23'" lillhen the lever 3'( is released, the spring 2T returns the platen to .normal position for printing either upper or loiver case. We preferablyV provide two of the key lovers 3'?, one at each side oit the machine,

the one being a duplic of the other.

We prefer to use sprmgsO to counter- -balance the l,Weight of theplaten so that it maybe moved freely upward dovvn- Ward. These springs may be arranged at any suitable points between the platen and its shift key, although they are preferably arranged on the carriage as shown.

It will be seen that -by the `Vmeans heretofore described, the platen may be shifted normally into either its upper or lower position and held yieldingly in either position and that by depressing either of the keys 37 the platen can be shifted temporarily from its normal position and Will return automatically When the key is released. fr single key is adapted to shift the platen into either of its normal positions and a single additional key is adapted to shift it temporarily from either normal position when desired. rlhe apparatus is thus very simple in construction and may if desired be operated by two keys although it is preferable for convenience to have a temporary shi t key at each side of themachine. A permanent shift key 3l may also be arranged at each side of the machine if desired. lWhile the case shifting mechanism above described is shoivn as adapted to shift the platen vertically in a front-strike typeivriting machine, it will be obvious that the broader features of the invention may be employed to shift a platen horizontally or in other directions, or to shift a type bar segment or other printing mechanism relatively to the platen in a frontstrike or other typewriter. The invention is therefore not limited to the particular construction and arrangement of parts illustrated and described herein.

Having described our invention what we claim and desire to secure by letters-Patent is, l

l. ln a typewriting machine, the combination with the carriage and Athe platen, of a case shifting mechanism for shifting the platen, comprising toggle levers mounted on the carriage, and means for operating said toggle levers to shift the platen vertically, the said levers being connected ivith the platen.

2. ln a typewriting machine, the combination with the carriage and the platen, of a case shifting mechanism for shifting the platen, comprising vertically movable bearings for the platen, toggle levers adapted to support and shift said bearings, and means for operating said toggle levers.

3. ln a typewriting machine, the combination with the carriage and the platen, of a case shifting mechanism for shifting the platen, comprising vertically movable bearings for the platen, toggle levers adapted to support and shift said bearings, and means for operating said toggle levers, said toggle levers being mounted upon and movable with the carriage.

4l.- ln a typewriting machine, the combinaftionwith the platen and platen shaft and with the carriage havin()` slots in which the ceases platen shaft is inovably mounted, of hearings for the platen shaft, toggle levers mounted on the carriage and engaging the said bearings, and key actuated means for shifting the toggle levers.

5. ln a typeivriting machine, the combination With the platen, of a case shifting mechanism for shifting the platen comprising toggle levers, a rock shaft having an arm connected to the toggle levers, and means for rocking said arm.

G. ln a typeivriting machine, the combination with the platen and the carriage, of a case shifting mechanism comprising toggle levers mounted on the carriage and engagn the platen shaft, a roel; shaft mounted on the frame of the machine, and an arm on said rock shaft adapted to operate the levers in any position of the carriage.

ln a typeivriting machine, vthe combination with the carriage and the platen mounted in the carriage, of a pair of toggle levers at each end of the carriage and arranged to engage the hearings of the platen shaft, a vibrating rod mounted in the carriage and connected to one member of each pair of toggle levers, and means mounted in the frame of the machine for vibrating said rod to operate the toggle levers and thereby shift the platen.

8. ln a typewr'-ing machine, the combination with a part shiftalole to print upp r and lower case characters, of case shifting mechanism for shifting said part comprising a roch shaft, a hey lever and a connection hetvveen said roch shaft and hey lever adapted to shift said shaft alternately in opposite directions, by successive depressions of the hey lever, for the purpose set forth.

9. ln a typewriting machine, the combination with a part shiftahlc to print upper and loiver case characters, of case shifting mechanism for shifting said part comprising a roch shaft, a slotted plate on said roch shaft, a key lever, and a link connectingl said lrev lever ivith the slotted plate and shiftahle relatively to said plate to the opposite sides of said rocl shaft.

l0. ln a typeivriting machine, the combination with a part shiftable to print upper and lower case characters, of case sl ing` -niechanism for shifting said part comprisinga rock shaft, a plate lined to said roch shaft and havimi an arc-shaped slot therein, a linl; engaging said plate and movable in said slot, and key lever to which link pivotally connected.

ll. ln a typewriting machine, a case shift- 'l' mechanism comprising a roclr shaft, a second roch shaft ca rying means for shifting the first named roch shaft into either of tivo positions, and a key lever and connections for shifting the second roch shaft.

l2. ln typeivriting machine, a case shiftshiftaole into either of tivo positions, a second roel: shaft, means for shifting the second roel' shaft into eithcr of two positions, a yielding connection between said rock shafts, whereby the movement of the second roel; shaft effects the movement of the first haft, and independent means for move til 't named roch shaft Without move second roel; shaft.

lo. in a typeivriting machine, case shifting mechanism comprising a roch shaft shiftahle into either of tivo positions, a seoond r cli shaft having a yielding connection With the tirst named roclf; shaft and adapted to shift the same, and means for shifting the first named rock shaft Without moving the second roch shaft, said means having a. shiftahle connection with the first named rock shaft, the point of connection being controlled by the movement of the second roch shaft.

lll. ln a typevv iting machine, a case shifting mechanism comprising a roel; shaft having oppositely extending arms, a second rock shaft having an arm adapted to yieldingly engage the arms of the first named rock shaft, a hey and connections for shifting the second roel-z shaft, and a key and connections for shifting the first named rock shaft While the second roch shaft is stationary in either position.

l5. ln a typewriting machine, a case shifting mechanism comprising a rock shaft having opposite-ly extending arms, a yielding device adapted to cooperate with either of said arms to shift the rock shaft into either of tivo positions, a key having a shiftahle connection with said rock shaft, and means operated by the key for simultaneously shifting the said connection and the said yielding device with respect to the said rock shaft, whereby the rock shaft is yieldingly held in either of tivo positions and adapted to he t"nporarily moved from either of said positions and automatically returned thereto.

16. ln a typeivriting machine, a case shifting mechanism comprising a rock shaft having mounted thereon oppositely extending arms, and a plate having an arc-shaped slot, a second roch shaft having a yielding arm adapted to engage the oppositely extending arms of the first rock shaft, a rod extending radially through said second rock shaft and adapted to engage the arc-shaped slot of the first roch shaft, a hey and connections for rocking the second rock shaft, and a key connected -with said rod and adapted to rock the first named roch shaft While the second shaft is stationary.

li'. ln a typewriting machine, vthe combination with the carriage, of a platen and platen shaftI movable vertically in lthe carriage, two pairs of toggle levers mounted on iig mechanism comprising a roch shaft i the carriage and adapted to shift said platen vertieallymeans for operating the toggle levers to shift the platen, and a spring for counterbalaneing the platen.-

18. In a typeivriting machine, a case shifting,` mechanism comprisingl a rock shaft having oppositely extending arms, a second rock shaft having` a rigidly connected arm, a spring plunger in said arm adapted to engage the oppositely extending arms of the first named rock shaft, means for operating the second rock shaft, and independent means for operating, the first named rock shaft While the second rock shaft is stationary.

19. In a typewriting machine, a case shifting mechanism adapted to shift from lower to upper or upper to lower case, and a single key and connections adapted to effect said shifting in either direction and to yieldingly hold the case shifting` means in either of its extreme positions.

20. in a typewriting machine, a case shift ing mechanism adapted to shift from lower to upper or upper to lower case, and a single key and connections adapted by successive operations to shift said mechanism in opposite directions and yieldinglgy hold said mechanism in either of its extreme positions.

in testimony whereof We affix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK J. TANNER. EDVN F. GRIFFIN.

7ilfitnesses NELSON H. FROUTY, Enviar JONES. 

